Terrific would be an understatement; mind-blowing would be putting it into perspective. We might have just witnessed Kangana Ranaut being elbowed out for the Best Actress Award in the coming year by Surveen Chawla who storms the screen like a wounded tigress.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned... Surveen Chawla as Sonika brings this proverb alive with a feisty display of restrained acting. Time to raise a roast for an actress who towers over all else to inject such passion and venom in her performance that it leaves you speechless. Not since DIRTY PICTURE and KAHAANI and recently QUEEN have we been treated to such high octane performance from a woman.

Sushant Singh as Mandar Mhatre, a wily politician, too has thrown his hat in the ring for the Best Villian Award. He goes about getting what he wants with sincere greed and a 'devil-may-care-attitude'. He slices his opponents without much feeling and even flattens his wife with his male chauvinistic attitude bringing to life the 'aurat pair ki dhool' line. Sushant maintains the venom without even once blinking, not even whilst inadvertently biting the bait. Brilliant.

Another actress to stand out is Neha Kaul who plays Sushant's 'dormant doormat' wife. Who says one needs dialogues to make an impact? Neha floors you with her expressions and the few lines that she is given.

The major flaw is when director Vishal Pandya, (making a comeback after his 2009 film, THREE) introduces Sunny Leone in an item song. What was the need for Sunny mouthing pink lips? If Pandya's intention was to up the heat quotient, Surveen was doing that as well. Sexy is not thrusting an open bosom towards the camera. Sexy is Surveen... even in her pain! This song is a definite spoiler.

HATE STORY 2 is no sequel or prequel to HATE STORY released in 2012, starring Gulshan Devaiah and Paoli Dam. This is an all new story with a new cast. The only common link is the revenge angle and the Bhatt banner.

A drunk in a cemetery is witness to a loud banging. He soon realizes that the sound is coming from beneath the ground. Any sober man would have sprinted out of there. But this drunk is already emboldened with the liquid spirit. He digs to find Sonika tied inside a coffin. At the hospital, under police protection, a cop tries to finish her off. He knows who has tried to kill her. Sonika manages to escape and begins her hunt to nail her tormenters, chief among them being Mandar, who has complete control over her.

Pandya does exceedingly well from start to finish with a few hiccups in between to stitch together (going back and forth), a riveting revenge drama. He shows enough flair as he has his story unfold through the eyes of Sonika. In his debut film, he had made a hash of a flashback.

The first half tells you of Sonika's captivity while the second half takes you on a spin. Pandya has cleverly unfurled the back stories without losing much screen time. For instance, Sonika's closeness to Mandar is revealed simply in one line whilst he is communicating with her grandmother. Ditto the scenes where she keeps seeing her dead lover.

The songs too are endearing. 'Ae Khuda' is a nice ballad romantically picturised between Sonika and her boyfriend played by Jay Bhanushali. Another catchy love song is 'Aaj phir tum pe pyaar aaya hai'.

The final line, delivered by Surveen to Sushant is massive. 'Paagal kutta aur awara haathi, dono bandook ke liye hi bane hai.' She delivers this with such raw passion, packing every ounce of emotion into it.

HATE STORY 2 is a slick film with powerful performances. You won't regret watching this one!